In 2006, John Engler and Susan Andersen (both current principal lecturers in the USU English Department) collaborated on an idea for a writing contest for English 2010 students. Their proposal, originally called Voices: On Stage and In Print, now called Voices of USU: An Anthology of Student Essays, was submitted to the student-centered Innovation Grant, for which they were awarded $16,800. Initially, the program was set up as a contest where students across ENGL 2010 classes would compete to read their essays at the Russell/Wanlass Performance Hall on campus. Those students would then be published in the next edition of the Voices anthology. 

The competition to read essays in front of an audience eventually evolved into the Citizen Scholar Conference, allowing all ENGL 2010 students to present the work they completed during their ENGL 2010 courses. In 2020, the anthology, previously available to students only by purchasing a printed text, moved to a free and online edition, and in 2022, the anthology submissions were opened to ENGL 1010 students as well. 

Lecturer Rachel Quistberg became involved in the program in 2012 and assumed a leadership role within Voices in 2017. Regarding what the anthology looks for when searching for student content to publish, Rachel says: “Voices encourages writers who discuss creative, innovative, unique, and relevant ideas in a variety of genres aimed toward specific audiences. We look for original perspective and insight, presented from a unique angle with a strong personal connection that also elicits strong classroom discussion. Students can submit items like essays, group projects, multimedia projects, final portfolios, or any other work they complete in ENGL 1010 and ENGL 2010.” 

Rachel encourages any students considering submitting their ENGL 1010 or 2010 work to follow through. “Students have already done the work, why not get published? The work they do in their ENGL 1010 and ENGL 2010 courses will prepare them well for submitting their work to Voices, and they don't need to do any additional revising, researching, or writing before they submit,” she says. 

For more information and to submit, please visit the Voices of USU website here. If any student would like additional support as they submit their work, they are welcome to reach out to Rachel at rachel.quistberg@usu.edu.